India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided 11 locations across several cities, including Delhi, as part of an investigation into a $29 million global crypto fraud scheme. The raids were conducted on Wednesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Delhi Police.
According to investigators, the fraud involved suspects posing as law enforcement or investigative officers to extort money from Indian and foreign nationals. Victims were threatened with arrest to coerce payments. In other cases, the perpetrators impersonated Microsoft and Amazon tech support agents to defraud individuals.
ED, Headquarters Office, New Delhi has provisionally attached assets include 18 immovable properties in Delhi and credits in bank accounts on 02.08.2025 valued at Rs. 42.8 Crore belonging to Chirag Tomar, his family members, and associated entities in the cyber fraud case…
— ED (@dir_ed) August 5, 2025
Authorities revealed that the accused converted their illicit gains into Bitcoin and later liquidated the assets into cash through USDT transactions routed via multiple hawala operators in the United Arab Emirates.
The raids come a day after the ED opened a separate investigation into a $4.7 million crypto fraud case where the perpetrators allegedly spoofed crypto exchange Coinbase’s website. An Indian national has been arrested in the United States in connection with the scheme.
This intensified crackdown on crypto-related fraud follows a series of high-profile cases, including BitConnect and GainBitcoin. Earlier this year, the ED seized digital assets valued at approximately $198 million linked to BitConnect, while the CBI recovered $2.88 million in the GainBitcoin scam.
In March, the ED appointed CoinDCX to manage seized digital assets, marking a significant step toward strengthening oversight in crypto-related financial crime investigations. The agency’s latest enforcement actions highlight India’s growing focus on tackling large-scale crypto scams and tightening regulatory control over digital asset-linked financial crimes.
Separately, the CBI dismantled a sophisticated transnational cybercrime network, confiscating more than $327,000 in cryptocurrency. The operation underscores the rising use of digital assets in organized financial crime and India’s growing efforts to combat it. The CBI’s recent crackdown targeted a group accused of orchestrating large-scale online scams that defrauded victims across several countries, including the United States and India.
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